Selling Wayne Rooney could rewrite football transfer history – and make him the most expensive footballer of all time.

Manchester United are likely to ask for a figure in excess of the world record £80million they got from Real Madrid for Ronaldo last year.

And if Rooney joined arch rivals Manchester City, he would command a salary of around £230,000-a-week – so with bonuses would rake in at least £60million over five years.

The striker could also command up to £5million just for putting pen to paper.

Rupert Pratt, managing director of sponsorship agency Generate Sponsorship, said: “He’s rumoured to be earning almost £300k per week from wages, image rights, sponsorship earnings and book deals. A move to a club like Manchester City is likely to see the England striker increase his wages significantly – but not his brand.”

His advisers may try to convince him to sign for a Spanish team such as Barcelona or Real Madrid because he’d pay only a quarter of his earnings in income tax – half what he’d fork out here.

The ownership of his image rights would be a key issue in any negotiations. Rooney would demand to control the commercial use of his image and voice to guarantee yet more millions.